Beijing will introduce tough new laws as well as an “accountability system” to crackdown on rampant food safety violations, the official Xinhua news agency reported, a significant move aimed at the elimination of food scandals that have claimed several lives in recent years.
Three days to the edge of the metaphorical ‘fiscal cliff’ and still no clear deal in sight. What will happen if we go off the cliff, and just how will the increase in taxes affect consumers and the macro economy? Will the world’s largest economy really slip into recession in the absence of a budget compromise?
Sometime in the next 10 days, a fiscal cliff agreement is likely, but it almost certainly won’t be a broad deficit reduction plan.
Europe risks losing out on a huge energy opportunity and petrochemical investments because of its reluctance to embrace the shale gas revolution, said the head of Sabic, the world’s largest petrolchemical group by market value.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Mohamed al-Mady, chief of the Riyadh-based group, said that the hesitation of policymakers in Brussels has driven away potential investors who have instead turned their focus to China and the Middle East – regions that are keen to emulate the US’ success in shale gas.
A group of emerging economic powers including China have agreed to increase their contribution to the United Nation’s coffers as countries such as Britain, Germany and Japan reel from the effects of the global financial crisis.
China has officially opened the world’s longest high-speed rail network, spanning 2,298 kilometers from Beijing, the capital in the north, to Guangzhou, the southern commercial metropolis.
The opening of the new 2,298-kilometre (1,425-mile) line between Beijing and Guangzhou means passengers will be whisked from the capital to the southern commercial hub in just eight hours, compared with the 22 hours previously required.
As we approach the New Year, concerns are mounting that the current budget impasse in Washington could trigger another recession in the world’s largest economy. From the Great Depression to the Great Recession, how has the American economy changed over the years?
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi on Monday, pledging to tighten defence ties with India, while promising to double the current level of bilateral trade from $10 billion to $20 billion within the next three years.
Putin, who will meet with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on a one-day visit, said that the two BRIC countries could expand on their current trade and defence relationship, especially as India was now the world’s largest arms importer while Russian-made military equipment accounted for 70 percent of Indian arms supplies.
Chinese tourists to Greece spend, on average, more than 200 euros per person than any other foreign visitor in the country, noted the President of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) on Sunday, as the nation prepares to introduce new measures to boost tourism figures, as a means of economic recovery.
Mattel, the world’s largest toymaker by revenues, may be renowned for producing Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels, but this year, their number-one selling product has actually been a simple plastic cellphone case, reported the Financial Times on Sunday, with more and more children today now increasingly exposed to technology devices, forsaking playtime with traditional toys.
According to a 2012 report by advocacy group Tax Justice Network, the world’s super rich are believed to be hiding nearly $21 trillion in offshore tax havens, which could possibly generate between $190-$280 billion in tax revenues for nations worldwide.
But while stashing cash overseas may be a popular method by wealthy individuals to avoid taxes, it is not the only loophole exploited by the rich in order to keep their money away from the government.
